Media Release

CELA Demands Immediate Regulatory Action on Lead in Consumer Products

Toronto. Following on coverage this week by CBC Marketplace confirming dangerously high levels of lead in inexpensive and widely available jewellery, CELA has called on Health Minister Allan Rock to take immediate and long overdue regulatory action. In a letter sent today to the Minister and copied to Pierre Pettigrew, Minister for International Trade, and opposition party health and trade critics, CELA asks:

Why is it taking so long to regulate lead out of consumer products?

Why should Canadian children have to be poisoned with lead as a means of identifying a problem for Health Canada officials to dither over for years?

Is there internal resistance from federal government trade officials blocking the establishment of this regulation?

If the assurance of free trade in consumer products is motivating the federal government to refuse to regulate hazardous materials out of consumer products, are Canadian children being poisoned for the sake of ensuring the commercial success of companies wishing to sell cheap jewellery?

What is the position of the department of International Trade on this regulation?